Rob's Regular Garden

[Rob]

Hi Everyone... ok, so i don't have any aquaponics or anything yet, but am an avid grower in my regular "dig" garden. So i thought i'd share a few pics and things...

What we started with... a bunch of seedlings




And a few weeks after it went in... with a bit of a run down of what's in there.


Strawberries - beginning to grow and ripen


Celery - i LOVE celery


Capsicum (also called peppers in some places)


Lettuce - we are growing about 7 different varieties, and enough to produce more than enough for us, and probably half our street


Truss Tomatoes - beginning to form - also growing Gross Lisse and a few cherry varieties

[Rob]

More pics

Goji Berries - i'm sure i don't need to explain


One of the other tomato varieties


Cucumbers - two different varieties


Another variety of capsicum


Button squash


Pineapple!!! Yum!!!

[Rob]

Our garden (well, part of it).


Citrus trees still to be planted. Fruits include Oranges, Lemons, Mangoes, Apples, Avocado, Peaches and more.


Chilli


More capsicum...


Corn - oh sweet corn... i love corn

[Rob]

Here are a few pics of our early fruits.


Our first ripe strawberry.


Capsicum ( or peppers in some places )


Tomato - out biggest by far (but only about 2 inches in diameter)


Rob

[Rob]

Here are some more pics about 4-weeks in...

Alfalfa sprouts - they taste fantastic (these are grown inside).


Strawberry flowers


Snow peas - SO delicious (this one was eaten about 10 seconds after the photo LOL)


Cucumber flowers - we'll have some fantastic cucumbers very soon


Lady bugs - they're everywhere, which is great as they help control pests.


Technically a capsicum, but really a super hot chilli - awesome

[Rob]

Capsicums growing. I picked the last one, but didn't take a pic - they're deep purple when ripe.


Truss tomatoes - have HEAPS of tomatoes growing


Corn cobs forming - looking forward to that.
The cobs are the parts that have "hair" at the top.
We have two younger plantations so we should have corn all through summer - nice!!!


Button squash - it's leaves are about 40cm in diameter - the photo doesn't do justice to just how big it is, heaps of flowers about to bloom, so we'll have squash soon too.


A baby snow pea
Isn't it cute LOL. It'll get eaten in a few days...

[Rob]

Some more pics... from about 6-weeks in.

Some butterflies doing um... not sure what


Our first cucumbers - they're MASSIVE, and VERY tasty... you can get an idea how big they are relative to hands holding them


Button squash - going insane - heaps of them on there, some ready for picking (they're hard to take pics of since there's so much going on in there)


Rob

[Rob]

Yet more pics ...

Capsicum (this variety are deep purple)


Button sqaush


In amongst the potatoes (don't think anyone would guess this one LOL)


Baby capsicum all by itself...


Marigolds


A baby (very baby) Rockmelon in case you were wondering...


Rob

[Rob]

And some more pics (i put these in another thread about the bee)..

I found this little guy (although technically "girl") in my garden this morning with a few friends. Trigona carbonaria is the name of this species (thanks to Russell (Native Bee Keepers) for the ID confirmation. They're an Australian Native Bee.



They've been doing a fantastic job of pollinating my melons (watermelon in the pic) which are producing an absolute bumper crop!

I am looking at purchasing native bees, so great to know they're happy around these parts.

Oh and for anyone interested, some of the melons they've been busy pollinating - in progress

Not long pollinated, but started developing. About 2.5" long.


Watermelon that's a bit older. About 4-5" long but growing fast!


Rockmelon - about 6" long.




Rob

[GaryD]

Nice photos Rob.

Be aware that, on your way to an aqupaponics system, you can set up a simple recirculating aquaculture system and water your soil-based garden with the water from it.

Take a look at my threads to see what you can achieve with mega bins and small bio-filters. You can put a small mega bin RAS together for about $500.

You still get two crops......plants and fish......and clean fresh food......for exactly the same amount of water.....while you're putting your aquaponic growing systems together.

Doing things that way enables you to put your AP system together as you find the time and the money. In the meantime, you're growing your fish and using the nutrient-rich water for your garden. Good deal.

Gary